Zur Funktion des Oxymorons und der Antithese in der Darstellung widersprüchlicher Gefühle. Am Beispiel der Briefromane von J. W. von Goethe und J. M. R. Lenz / On the Function of the Oxymoron and Antithesis in the Presentation of Mixed Feelings. By the Example of the Letter Novels by J. W. von Goethe and J. M. R. Lenz)
DOI: 10.23817/lingtreff.18-9 (published online: 2020-11-30)
pp. 121–135
Keywords: Johann Wolfgang Goethe, Werther, J.M. R Lenz, oxymoron
Since the age of sensibility there has been a growing focus on inner subjective experience. The epistolary novels of Goethe (Die Leiden des jungen Werther [The Sorrows of Young Werther], 1774) and J. M. R. Lenz (Der Waldbruder. Ein Pendant zu Werthers Leiden [The Hermit. A Pendant to Werther’s Sorrows], 1776) provide an insight into the emotional world of a first-person narrator. His emotions, such as sadness or longing, are expressed through conventional rhetorical figures such as the oxymoron. However, the mixed feelings shown in the novels are rarely interpreted with reference to rhetorical figures.
Texts published in the ‘Linguistische Treffen in Wrocław’ are available in the Open Access on the basis of the CC BY-SA license.
